Blog Archives

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. reported net income of $44.6 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2012 compared with net income of $41.3 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the same period in 2011, and net income of $65.7 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2012.

The net income for the six months ended June 30, 2012 was $110.4 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, compared with net income of $67.2 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, for the six months ended June 30, 2011.

Second quarter 2012 results were impacted by a $14.6 million pre-tax charge ($0.09 per share after-tax) related to the decision to “cold stack” the Subsea Construction vessel, Intrepid, to reduce the book value to the vessel’s estimated fair value.

In addition, Helix Energy reached an agreement to acquire the Discoverer 534 drillship (D534). After closing and delivery to Singapore, the drillship will be converted into a well intervention vessel. The D534 is expected to enter service in the Gulf of Mexico in the first half of 2013.

Owen Kratz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Helix, stated, “Notwithstanding that both the Q4000 and the Seawell were out of service for a good portion of the second quarter due to longer than anticipated regulatory dry docks, Helix managed a fairly good second quarter, resulting in much stronger financial performance for the first half of 2012 compared to last year. Activity levels for both our Well Intervention and Robotics businesses remain strong as we continue to grow backlog. The addition of the D534 to our fleet will allow us to address the robust demand for well intervention services in the near term. In addition, we are pleased to report success on our Danny II exploratory well.”

Helix Energy Solutions Group is talking to US officials about providing a capping stack to Repsol to respond to any blowout and spill from its deepwater well off Cuba‘s coast, the company confirmed Friday.

Helix would have to secure special licenses from the Commerce Department to export technology to Cuba as well as permission from the Treasury Department for its personnel to travel to Cuban waters to assist in responding to a blowout.

While the company would not specifically say it had applied for those licenses, spokesman Cameron Wallace did say that Helix was “currently engaged with relevant US regulatory agencies regarding the possibility of providing spill containment solutions for use in Cuban waters. The ultimate scope of services to be offered is still under consideration, and no firm commitments have yet been made,” Wallace said.

Bromwich told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the Treasury and Commerce departments are reviewing applications for licenses to provide a subsea well containment system, remotely operated vehicles and intervention vessels in case of a massive blowout and spill.

Helix already owns a deepwater capping stack, one of two that are part of the Helix Well Containment Group, a consortium of companies drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico. The two stacks, one of which is owned by HWCG, are rated to a depth of 10,000 feet and are staged for use by any of the member companies in case of a major oil spill.

Wallace said Helix would build a third capping stack, designed to meet the specific parameters of Repsol’s Cuban well, if it secures the necessary permissions.

“The goal of the operation is to protect the nation’s coastlines,” Wallace said. “We need to be able to act in the event that our coasts are threatened and this is one means of doing that.”
While the capping stack would initially be designed and built for the Repsol well, it would be available for other projects in the future, Wallace said.

As seen in the August edition of MarineNews, Susan Buchanan updates readers on the GOM oil production situation.

BP’s gushing well was capped more than a year ago but life is hardly back to normal in the U.S. Gulf–where rigs and vessels remain underutilized. At least ten rigs have moved overseas since last summer. Gulf oil production is below pre-spill levels and won’t recover anytime soon, analysts say. Issuance of drilling permits picked up this spring as operators agreed to use oil-containment systems but permitting lags earlier rates.

Paul Candies, president and CEO of Otto Candies, LLC, in Des Allemands, La., said offshore activity has increased recently, and “we expect to see a slow trend toward more drilling “ But the marine industry shouldn’t get lulled into a false sense of security. “We need to continue to push for more permitting of rigs and simplification of that process,” he said. Candies gave a positive report about his company, saying “all of our platform supply vessels are committed at present for extended periods. We have three inspection, maintenance and repair vessels on long-term commitments, and should have a fourth IMR vessel committed by year end.” Otto Candies is a marine transportation and offshore services company.

At Laborde Marine Management, LLC, in New Orleans, managing member Cliffe Laborde said “I think the worst is over, but we’re a long way from getting back to where we were shortly before the Macondo spill.” Laborde Marine, with operations in Morgan City, La., services the deep and shallow water drilling industry.

Gulf Assets Move Overseas

Laborde provided some recent history, and explained how promising times in the Gulf had turned sour. “In early 2010, as the economy emerged from a two-year recession, the Gulf energy industry was beginning to bloom,” he said. “Utilization rates for deepwater support vessels were high, and charter rates were rising again. The outlook was very good, but then came the spill and the market has languished since.”

Laborde continued, saying “many deepwater vessels and rigs have moved out of the GOM to foreign areas, and many vessels and rigs that stayed in the Gulf are idle now, waiting on BOEMRE to issue new permits.” The granting of new drill permits has been “alarmingly anemic,” he added.

Rigs are underutilized in the Gulf this summer. The fleet utilization rate for all 52, offshore Gulf platforms was 40.4% on July 22, less than half the worldwide usage rate for platforms, according to ODS-Petrodata, Inc. Utilization of mobile rigs in the Gulf stood at 53.7% on July 22.

Meanwhile, other drilling regions in the world are closer to full capacity. In Europe and the Mediterranean, 96.3% of all platform rigs and 87.7% of mobile rigs were in use in late July. Oil and marine companies can’t afford to keep assets in waters where they’re not needed. Since the start of the deepwater moratorium in May 2010, at least ten rigs have left the Gulf of Mexico, and headed to Angola, Egypt, Congo, Nigeria, French Guiana, Liberia, Brazil and Vietnam. One of those rigs returned to the Gulf in March, however, and another is slated to come back this fall.

Shallow Water Activity Could Slow Further At Late Year

In Morgan City, La., Dave Barousse, business development director at Fleet Operators, Inc., said “in the shelf market, or non-deep water at depths of 1,000 feet and less, we have not seen an increase in business because of the end of the moratorium. However, business has been steady as a result of the normal construction and maintenance work offshore that generally takes place during the summer months.” But, he said, activity is considerably slower than before the deepwater moratorium.” Fleet Operators owns and charters supply vessels for the offshore oil and gas industry. And Barousse said “we’re preparing for things to slow down tremendously once winter weather is upon us. The outlook is not very positive at the moment, and will be even worse by the end of the year.”

Crude oil production from the federal Gulf of Mexico is expected to shrink from 1.64 million barrels per day in 2010 to 1.49 million bpd this year and 1.38 million bpd in 2012, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration‘s short-term energy outlook, released in July. Gulf output should drop by 150,000 barrels a day this year and another 110,000 bpd in 2012.

The EIA said this year’s decline stems from lower production in existing fields, last year’s drilling moratorium and a subsequent delay in issuing new drilling permits. Even before the BP spill and the drilling ban, the EIA expected Gulf oil output to fall this year.

Issuance of Drilling Permits Lags Pre-Moratorium Pace

Jim Adams, president and chief executive of Offshore Marine Service Association, an industry group in Harahan, La., said the Administration’s approval rate for exploration and development plans is down 85% from pre-moratorium levels, and the number of drilling permits covered by exploration and development plans is off nearly 65%. He cited a study called “Restarting the Engine–Securing American Jobs, Investment and Energy Security,” released by IHS CERA and IHS Global Insight in late July.

Adams said “no industry can operate with that kind of shutdown.” He said the Obama Administration is sending rigs, boats and jobs overseas in an indefensible policy. OMSA represents more than 250 member companies, including about 100 firms that own and operate marine-service vessels. “The offshore marine industry remains in a state of crisis, almost as if the drilling moratorium was never lifted, and the only relief from excess capacity is overseas opportunities,” Adams said. “The Administration has strangled offshore drilling, and until that changes, we can’t look for better times in the marine industry.”

Adams said Washington has choked the Gulf shallow sector though it never had any significant spills. “There’s no reason that shallow water permits shouldn’t be 100% of what they were in the spring of last year, but we’re not even close,” he said. “The Administration isn’t interested in shallow-water or deepwater exploration.”
OMSA sent a letter to President Obama in February complaining about suspended offshore drilling and its impact on marine industry jobs. “We never heard back from the Administration and that’s because they know we’re right,” Adams said. According to OMSA, more than 50,000 wells have been safely drilled in the Gulf of Mexico over the past fifty years.

Problems with Rig Permit Numbers

Adams said “BOEMRE numbers on Gulf drilling permits are completely misleading. We need to know how many wells are brand new that will lead to exploration and how many wells are being re-permitted from last year.” Someone looking at BOEMRE’s website might think that new wells are keeping pace with pre-moratorium levels, but they aren’t, he said. He added that oil and marine industries need to be able to compare how many exploratory wells are permitted. “It takes an average seven permits for a well to start producing,” he noted. In March, Senator David Vitter (R-La.) also sent a letter to U.S/ Interior Dept. Secretary Ken Salazar and BOEMRE director Michael Bromwich, complaining about inaccurate, federal information on Gulf drilling permits.

In their July study, IHS CERA and IHS Global Insight said an analysis of BOEMRE data provided several findings. “The current pace of plan and permit approvals is significantly below historical norms and indicates that the process is not working smoothly,” researchers said. And “the growing backlog of plans awaiting approval indicates that the industry remains ready to invest as quickly as it is permitted to do so.”

Rigs and Vessels Adopt Oil Containment Systems

One way to get your vessel hired in the Gulf is to outfit it with spill-response equipment. After BP’s accident, BOEMRE issued new regulations requiring that rig operators be able to respond to subsea leaks and surface spills. In late July of this year, two Hornbeck Offshore Services vessels were added to the fleet of ships that can respond to a Gulf accident, the Marine Spill Response Corp. said. MSRC is a non-profit company that was established in 1990. Hornbeck’s HOS Centerline and HOS Strongline are vessels with oil-skimming systems, ocean boom, support boats and navigational systems that can support skimming at night and in stormy weather.

Hornbeck, based in Covington, La., in late May posted its first quarterly loss in over six years, but said it was diversifying by moving vessels into foreign markets. This summer, BOEMRE director Bromwich said his agency will issue more safety measures for Gulf rigs soon. At the fifth, annual World National Oil Companies Congress in the U.K. in late June, he said “offshore drilling in the U.S. and around the world will never be the same as it was a year ago. Changes that we have put in place will endure because they were urgent, necessary and appropriate.” More regulations will be issued, but not at the frantic pace of the past year, he said.

Report Delayed On Who’s To Blame for Spill

In late July, a U.S. team examining the causes of the BP spill delayed the release of a final report as it continued weighing evidence. BOEMRE and the U.S. Coast Guard were expected to issue results of a joint investigation on July 27 but said they needed more time. The Gulf marine industry wants additional rigs to start drilling soon. Laborde said “the oil companies, the rig operators and the energy-service companies are all anxious and ready to get back to work. This would create jobs, improve the economy, increase government revenues through royalty income and taxes, and enhance our national security by lessening dependence on foreign oil.” Where the Gulf oil and marine industries go from here is up to decision makers in Washington, he said.

CAMAC Energy Inc. has finished completion operations on the Oyo-8 well, located offshore Nigeria, and is now ready to start oil production. Oyo-8 is hooked up to the Bumi Armada-owned FPSO Armada Perdana. However, CAMAC has been informed by Bumi that the FPSO is not ready to receive oil production from the well due to […]

UK-based offshore drilling contractor Ensco has from oil company BP received a notice of early termination for ENSCO DS-4, a drilling rig operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The estimated effective date of the contract termination is July 2015 based on the projected completion of the customer’s current well program. Under the terms of […]

Chevron Corporation has confirmed today that George L. Kirkland, vice chairman and executive vice president, Upstream, will retire from the company, effective June 15. He will be succeeded by James W. (Jay) Johnson, as executive vice president, Upstream, effective June 16. “George’s business acumen and deep operational knowledge of our industry have helped c […]

Italian oil and gas company Eni, following its participation in the competitive International Bid Round launched by the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, signed two Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for offshore blocks MD-02 and MD-04. The contracts were signed in Nay Pyi Taw, in the presence of the country’s Energy Minister. The Joint Venture […]

Azonto Petroleum has said that its board is going through a review of “a range of strategic options for the Company to preserve shareholder value and reduce operating costs.” In a statement issued today, the oil & gas company focused on West Africa, said that it is contemplating a sale of its assets and/or a sale […]

Maersk Oil has informed that production has started from the new unmanned platform Tyra Southeast-B, located in the Danish North Sea. According to Maersk, the platform is expected to add reserves of 50 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) over the next 30 years to Danish production. “The Tyra Southeast extension is a great example […]

MacGregor has appointed Høye G. Høyesen (49) as Vice President, Offshore Mooring and Loading Division starting as of April 1, 2015. MacGregor reorganised into seven operative divisions in the beginning of 2015 to improve customer focus. Offshore Mooring and Loading Division drives the development of Systems and Equipment for Offshore Floating Units. Høyesen […]

Wood Group has been awarded a five year, multi-million contract by Total, which includes the option for two, one year extensions. Under the contract Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) will deliver engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services to four offshore assets and two onshore facilities in the UK continental shelf (UKCS). The contract, effectiv […]

VAALCO Energy, Inc. has announced that the post-salt Kindele-1 well, its first exploration well on Block 5 offshore Angola, was drilled to a total vertical depth of approximately 1,829 meters. VAALCO started drilling Kindele-1 well on March 2, 2015 with Celtic Sea semi-submersible drilling rig. According to the company, the objective reservoir, the Mucanzo […]

MacArtney Group will launch the new NEXUS MK VII multiplexer at the Ocean Business exhibition. Also MacArtney will display other developments, such as the LUXUS wide angle LED, and stand visitors... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

After reorganization into seven operative divisions in the beginning of 2015, MacGregor has appointed Høye G. Høyesen (49) as Vice President, Offshore Mooring and Loading Division starting 1st of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

On behalf of the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) in France and UK MOD’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation, OCCAR has awarded the Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) contract to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

BW Offshore, a provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry, has received a notice of termination for the FPSO BW Athena contract from Ithaca Energy. Namely, BW Offshore and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Cameron announced that Justin Rounce has assumed the newly created position of Vice President, Marketing and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective March 23, 2015. In his new role Rounce is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Subsea 7 has declared their option to extend the contract for the construction vessel (CSV) “Normand Seven” with 1 year from September 2015. This is the first of a total of five yearly... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Mariners are advised that over the Easter weekend (4th-5th April 2015) the vessel Stril Explorer is due to arrive at the Gwynt y Môr windfarm to remove the 3 FLIDAR moorings on the seabed. The 76.4... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Baker Consultants Marine Limited has been appointed by GeoSea to provide underwater noise and marine mammal monitoring and mitigation during the construction phase of the Gode Wind 1 and 2 offshore... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The ship Chioggia and the Operational Divers Group (GOS) from the Comsubin performed the mine clearing operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The GOS, with a sophisticated equipment on board, plumbed... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Lancashire based EDS is marking the completion of a £10 million contract for cable termination work at the world’s second largest operating offshore wind farm, with an exemplary health and safety... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Statoil’s active leases in the Gulf of Mexico

Most people who get new jobs aren't even looking new jobs. That's according a new research paper by Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, Bart Hobijn, Patryk Perkowski, and Ludo Visschers, published by the San Francisco Fed. The results of their study show that "more than three-quarters of workers who switched employers did not report active job search in t […]

Facebook dropped $19 billion on WhatsApp, Snapchat is valued at $15 billion, and even the anonymous messaging app Yik Yak, despite being a little over a year old, is already valued between $300 million and $400 million. Messaging apps are big business, and here’s why. Based on new data from mobile analytics firm Flurry charted for us by BI Intelligence, mess […]

If you didn't have enough reasons to see the next "Avengers" movie, here's one more: the second trailer for "Star Wars: Episode VII" will play in front of the anticipated sequel. Both /film and Collider are reporting the second trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be attached to the "Avengers: Age of Ul […]

Come join our team! We're looking for an Assistant Managing Editor to help build and manage our fast-growing newsroom. This person should have some experience recruiting, and has preferably worked in journalism as a reporter or editor and is looking for a new and expanded role. The ideal candidate is: -Obsessed with staying organized and loves juggling […]

The contract between "Big Five" book publisher HarperCollins and Amazon is about to expire and HarperCollins is refusing to sign an agreement with the new terms that Amazon is asking, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Business Insider. The contract presented to HarperCollins was the same contract recently signed by Simon & Schuste […]

The peril of not being ready to appear in major stores is a problem KIND knows all about. Around 2007, one Wal-Mart buyer gave us a chance. She was a KIND consumer herself and believed in our brand. She wanted us to succeed. Wal-Mart is a prize account for consumer brands, but it’s a challenging customer for a fledgling start-up to have, because it has world […]

Ever stared up at the sky on a clear night and felt suddenly small beneath the stars? Hiked up a mountain and marveled at the immensity of the vast beauty below? That inexplicable sense of wonder, it turns out, is actually good for you. A handful of recent studies have found that when people experience a sense of awe, they're generally more likely to fe […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) - Tottenham winger Andros Townsend came off the bench to steal the limelight from club-mate Harry Kane with a late leveller in a 1-1 draw against Italy in Turin on Tuesday.England manager Roy Hodgson was forced to hand Spurs sensation Kane his full debut alongside Wayne Rooney due to injuries to both Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck.But […]

Jameis Winston, the presumed No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, held his Pro Day in front of NFL scouts on Tuesday. The initial reaction from many was that it could have gone better. Todd McShay of ESPN said he was "underwhelmed" by Winston's performance, which included 102 passes. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports called it an "OK per […]

It would appear de-dollarization among America's "allies" is accelerating... As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 46 countries had applied to be founding members of #AIIB. Founding membership will be finalized on April 15 — People's Daily,China (@PDChina) March 31, 2015 Most of the 46 nations are here... And while Washington has proclaimed […]

Shortly after the US equity mnarkets closed, headlines crossed from Switzerland seemingly confirming "no deal" with Iran...P5+1 MINISTERS PLAN TO LEAVE LAUSANNE IN MORNING but that was quickly watered down with a warning that Iran has until dawn to agree to the deal. This sent WTI up modestly and then API Crude inventories, which were expected to r […]

If you love Trannies, here's a message for you this quarter... First let's get this out of the way... What an utter farce today was with markets breaking everywhere to stick save VIX ETFs rampant manipulation of the indices... After open, @NASDAQ stopped quoting in A-Z for between 6-8 minutes. Here is in $AAPL: between 09:31-09:37 ET pic.twitter.co […]

1987 Or 2015? "They are not real buyers and sellers... these are computers that drive the markets down extremely fast..." "A crash is coming..." "A correction will prompt rate cuts which will ensure The Bull Market is not over..." * * * It's never different this time... The Friday night before Black Monday 1987... […]

Two months ago, when looking at the most recent physical gold withdrawal numbers reported by the Fed, we observed something peculiar: between the publicly reported surprise redemption by the Netherlands (122 tons) and the just as surprise redemption by the Bundesbank (85 tons), at least 207 tons of gold should have vacated the NY Fed's gold vault. Inste […]

Stranger things have happened... Remember the stop-on-a-dime 666 lows of the S&P... Well it's been 7.5 years again... and we have extended an almost-perfect Fibonnaci 61.8% off the last high-to-low swing... Charts: Bloomberg h/t Brad Wishak

With Decisive Storm airstrikes showing no signs of abating, and with some reports suggesting that as many as 40 people were killed when bombs struck a refugee camp near Haradh, many suspect the violence in Yemen is set to escalate meaningfully in the days and weeks ahead with Saudi Arabia preparing to launch a ground invasion in the expanding effort to debil […]

Days after Zero Hedge broke the news that CNBC had just suffered its worst ever ratings year in 2014... ... we weren't at all surprised to read in the WSJ that "CNBC will no longer rely on TV ratings specialist Nielsen to measure its daytime audience, beginning later this year. Instead, it has retained marketing and research firm Cogent Reports f […]

......Submitted and posted with permission by Gary Christenson - The Deviant Investor (Independently Written) Which silver? Paper silver or real silver? Silver prices are largely set on the COMEX futures – paper silver. A company can post the margin and sell short thousands of contracts with no actual metal available thereby creating artificial supply. […]

It is important to keep track of the war on terror and its damages. A big war creates immense antipathy among those subject to its destruction ... Trade suffers; blowback occurs. And for the US, such a war can be economically draining far beyond what is now being reported. This is not really taken into account in the economic analyses purveyed across the air […]

A big mainstream media meme is that when economic conditions worsen, people respond by seeking out Hitler-esque leaders who will express the frustration of the "people" via genocide, incipient warfare and the creation of a police state. Regardless of whether this has been true in the past, we have long predicted that the Internet would change the w […]

Discrimination has become a "dirty word." It has come to carry the "politically incorrect" connotation of prejudice, hatefulness, racism, and cruel intolerance towards others in society. There is only one problem: Which one of us does not discriminate? Indeed, everything we do reflects discriminating choices and decisions. The issue of di […]

Predictably, the death of Lee Kuan Yew has generated many positive comments in the mainstream media about his "leadership" of Singapore. The main thrust of the comments has to do with his ability to run an authoritarian regime that produced a kind of capitalist prosperity. This is an all-too-familiar meme, one often voiced by Western leaders. The i […]

Leaders in high places around the world are making it clear that the drug war is in a sense "over" – and all that is left to do is wind it down. Of course, if you ask the millions who have suffered from the drug war and their families, the "war" is an all-too-literal presence. For them, there is no winding down, or not yet. But Kofi Anan […]